Katherine Jackson to Produce MJ Movies7/1/2010 12:25 AM PDT by TMZ Staff TMZ has learned ... Katherine Jackson is knee-deep in a business deal to produce and distribute several movies on Michael Jackson's life, and she is on a collision course with the MJ estate.
Howard Mann, the guy who co-authored Katherine's coffee table book, "Never Can Say Goodbye," is also producing a movie that will feature video from Michael Jackson's childhood through the end of his life.
We're told Katherine has hundreds of hours of video, including the family's big move from Gary, Indiana to L.A. after The Jackson 5 signed with Motown.
We're told Mann just bought the rights to 26 hours of Michael Jackson video ... owned by Michael Jackson's former business partner/confidant Marc Schaffel. We're told Mann has paid Schaffel in the eight figures for the video.
Now here's the problem ... the Michael Jackson estate has the exclusive right to market Michael Jackson's name and image. We're told Mann and company are comfortable with their legal position, because the beneficiaries of the estate -- Katherine and Michael's kids -- are profiting participants in the movie. In fact, Mann tells TMZ he and Katherine plan on releasing a series of movies.
The estate would not comment, but as far as our research shows, there's no loophole when it comes to marketing Michael Jackson's name and image -- whether Katherine and the kids are beneficiaries or not.
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MJ's Mom: They're Takin' Every Penny You Make7/2/2010 12:30 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Katherine and Joe Jackson are set to make a bundle off of their various Michael Jackson business ventures. But Katherine and her hubby haven't figured out ... someone is waiting in the wings to take away everything they make.
TMZ broke the story ... Katherine and Joe owe more than $13 million to a South Korean newspaper -- the Segye Times. The paper gave Joe, Katherine, and Jermaine a $5.5 million advance for a Jackson family concert series that never got off the ground. The newspaper sued in 1994, won a $4 mil judgment which has swelled with interest to more than $13 mil.
Edwin Bradley, a lawyer for the Segye Times tells TMZ, his client will go after anything Katherine and Joe make -- and that includes profits from Katherine's book, the movie projects she's producing with Howard Mann (pictured right) -- everything.
Ironically, Katherine's allowance from the MJ estate could be in jeopardy, since she's making money off of her son on the side. But the allowance could actually be protected from garnishment.
We're told the newspaper will go to court on September 14 to try and wrestle money earmarked for Katherine from the MJ trust. Sources tell us, however, there is a big fat zero in the trust now, because the estate is in debt.
Bottom line ... Whatever Katherine makes outside the estate will probably end up lining someone else's pocket.
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TMZ Live: Elin, Mel Gibson & Lindsay Lohan7/2/2010 11:01 AM PDT by TMZ Staff You are not allowed to view links.
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MJ Estate Wins Partial Victory in Concert Suit7/2/2010 4:06 PM PDT by TMZ Staff The company suing the Michael Jackson estate for $300 million over the Jackson family concert that never took place just got two strikes against it, and the pitcher was a federal judge.
The judge on Tuesday threw out two of the three claims AllGood Entertainment filed against the estate, AEG and Frank Dileo.
The suit claims Dileo, MJ's alleged former manager, made a deal with AllGood that Michael would perform at a Jackson Family concert before doing any other gigs. By launching the London series of concerts, AllGood claims Jackson breached his deal and cost AllGood a bundle.
But a federal judge ruled AllGood's claim for fraud and tortious interference (i.e., intermeddling) was bogus. All that is left of the lawsuit is a breach of contract claim.
The estate claims Dileo never had authority to make a deal with AllGood.
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Jackson Memorabilia Auction -- I'll Trade Ya!7/6/2010 12:50 AM PDT by TMZ Staff This latest Michael Jackson auction has a unique twist -- the owner of the items says he got them from MJ himself ... by trading other memorabilia with the King of Pop.
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Ed Kosinski, part owner of Gotta Have It!, tells us he actually traded MJ for the stuff. He says Michael had a thing for "Our Gang," Charlie Chaplin, Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, and other vintage Hollywood items.
The auction also features signed photos and authentic MJ lyric sheets.
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La Toya: Michael Wanted to Teach Bubbles to Talk7/11/2010 8:30 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson spent thousands of dollars on research to see if it was possible to perform a medical procedure on his beloved pet Bubbles that would give him the ability to speak ... this according to an interview with his sister La Toya.
Michael eventually came to realize that any such procedure would be too risky, but not after flying in experts. La Toya told News of the World, "... He wanted to give him vocal chords and asked doctors, 'Can I give him an operation so that I can know what his thoughts are?'"
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MJ Tomb -- Defaced with Hidden Messages7/13/2010 12:15 AM PDT by TMZ Staff TMZ has learned Michael Jackson's tomb has been defaced by a stealth band of vandals -- who have marked the walls of MJ's mausoleum with hidden messages ... and it's all in permanent ink.
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LoginSecurity at Forest Lawn in Glendale, CA is on the lookout for "fans" who have been writing messages in hard-to-spot places outside the main window of the building in which MJ is entombed.
The writing is mostly hidden underneath ledges -- or in spots covered by bushes -- and contains messages like, "Miss you" and "Keep the dream alive."
Reps at Forest Lawn are pretty ticked off -- telling TMZ, "Activity such as this, is a prime example why we are evaluating the level of access to the various entrances of the Great Mausoleum."
Forest Lawn also tells us that anyone caught vandalizing the cemetery will be banned for life.
UPDATE 07/16/10 -- according to sources at Forest Lawn, the graffiti has successfully been removed.
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MJ Fans -- Dying to Clean Up Tomb Graffiti7/14/2010 12:20 AM PDT by TMZ Staff An MJ fan club is on a desperate mission to clean up the recent graffiti onslaught outside the King of Pop's tomb -- claiming a few bad apples could spoil everything for MJ's non-vandal followers.
The Official Michael Jackson Fans of Southern California have extended an olive branch to Forest Lawn Cemetery -- where MJ is buried -- offering to clean up the recent wave of hidden vandalism outside the singer's tomb ... before the cemetery decides to ban MJ fans altogether.
A rep for the group -- which organizes a monthly pilgrimage to MJ's burial place -- tells TMZ, they want to "fix this mess" so FLC doesn't associate MJ's upstanding fans with a bunch of sharpie-wielding hoodlums.
As TMZ first reported, Forest Lawn is currently on red alert over the illegal doodles -- hunting down the artists responsible ... and threatening to ban any potential copycats for life.
No word if Forest Lawn will take the fan group up on their offer.
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Jermaine Jackson: Dr. Murray Should Drop Dead7/18/2010 7:18 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Jermaine Jackson showed no mercy in Malibu yesterday on the fate he thinks should befall Dr. Conrad Murray and others he believes killed Michael Jackson.
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Tracy Morgan -- Why I Bought MJ's Used Glove ...7/23/2010 6:45 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Tracy Morgan loves Michael Jackson so much, that he bought one of MJ's gloves for $14,000 at an auction -- can you guess what activity Tracy uses the glove for?
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Museum of Dance -- Making Room for MJ Tribute7/24/2010 12:15 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson won't just get a plaque when he's inducted into the Hall of Fame at the You are not allowed to view links.
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TMZ has learned museum officials have agreed to make space for a permanent garden to honor the late icon -- after an MJ fan group informed employees that an influx of flowers would be headed their way on the day MJ will be enshrined.
So, instead of just letting the flowers die ... the museum's honchos -- along with a local florist -- decided to construct a permanent garden in MJ's honor on the museum's grounds.
There's a tiny catch -- the MJ fan group is gonna have to foot the bill for the garden -- and the size of the garden will be determined by You are not allowed to view links.
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Michael Jackson -- Nazi Flick Fan?7/25/2010 8:10 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson's ideal double feature -- an Adolf Hitler documentary with a Judy Garland chaser ... that's according to a video distributor who claims to have provided Jackson plenty of both.
Norman Scherer tells the You are not allowed to view links.
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Login that MJ had a penchant for collecting Nazi documentaries. Scherer, who owns a videotape distribution company, says Jackson had a "really good collection" -- which included, "Nazis -- Of Pure Blood," "Oasis of the Zombies" and "Hitler's Children."
Scherer also claims Jackson enjoyed Judy Garland's TV specials and dramas depicting troubled boys in dysfunctional families.
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TMZ Live: Gibson, Jackson, and Chelsea Clinton7/27/2010 10:30 AM PDT by TMZ Staff We took your questions on everything -- including Mel Gibson and Oksana Grivorieva planting a "placenta tree", Chelsea Clinton's wedding having $15,000 porta-potties, and a Netherlands woman who claims Michael Jackson is her father.
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Alleged MJ Love Child Surfaces -- Wants Money7/27/2010 11:42 AM PDT by TMZ Staff A woman who claims to be Michael Jackson's illegitimate love child -- conceived when MJ was a minor -- has filed legal documents claiming there was a diabolical plot to cover up her existence ... involving murder, abduction and Diana Ross' sister.
The alleged MJ spawn -- Mocienne Petit Jackson -- has filed documents with L.A. County Superior Court claiming she will surely be in line for a serious inheritance check ... if a judge will give the go-ahead on a DNA test.
Here's the story -- MPJ claims back in 1975, 17-year-old Michael Jackson secretly impregnated her mother Barbara ... who happens to be Diana Ross' sister.
MPJ claims when she was 9 years old, Katherine Jackson hatched a plan to "abduct" MPJ and send her to Belgium to protect Michael's "reputation." She claims all 7 of her abductors were later murdered.
Now MPJ -- who currently lives in the Netherlands -- has decided to come forward with her story ... so she can "formally claim my part of my father's inheritance." She also wants custody of MJ's kids so she can give them a "more normal life."
MPJ also claims she was diagnosed with Vitiligo ... so, there's that.
Calls to Diana Ross, Barbara Ross and MJ's camp have not been returned.
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Katherine Jackson -- 'I Haven't Been Doing So Well'7/28/2010 12:25 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Katherine Jackson claims she "hasn't been doing so well" since MJ died -- in fact, according to a never-before-seen interview from last month, the singer's mother has basically been an emotional wreck.
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The clip was shot by the same website hawking Katherine's new book "Never Can Say Goodbye" -- and according to our source, the footage is all part of a larger documentary on Jackson's life.
As for who's behind the whole project -- we're told it's an equal partnership between Katherine and Howard Mann -- the same guy who co-wrote her book.
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MJ's Alleged Baby Mama: The Kid is NOT My Daughter7/28/2010 9:20 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson's alleged illegitimate daughter just suffered a devastating blow to her far-fetched claims ... because the woman who supposedly gave birth to her -- Diana Ross' sister -- says it's all a bunch of BS.
TMZ just spoke to Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, who tells us she's pretty damn sure that Mocienne Petit Jackson "is not my daughter" -- adding MPJ is "delusional" and calls the situation nothing short of "bizarre."
Dr. Ross-Lee also points out a major hole in MPJ's story -- saying it would have been impossible for her to have conceived a baby with Michael back in 1975 ... because she never even met the guy.
Dr. Ross-Lee says there was a time when MPJ "was really harassing me at my office" -- and was forced to have her employer contact the police to get MPJ to stop.
According to Dr. Ross-Lee, she responded to one of MPJ's emails a few years ago to tell her she was mistaken and to wish her well.
As we first reported, MPJ filed documents yesterday requesting a judge allow her to take a DNA test to prove she's MJ's daughter ... and therefore lay claim to part of his fortune and be granted custody of his kids.
Good luck with that ...
Last night, MJ's brother Randy Jackson also commented on the situation, saying the whole thing "sounds kinda crazy."
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TMZ Live: Jackson, Allred, and 'Jersey Shore'7/28/2010 10:00 AM PDT by TMZ Staff We took your questions today on everything -- including Katherine Jackson saying she hasn't been doing well since MJ's death, Gloria Allred's plans to not eat for a month, and Chris Tucker owing $11 million in back taxes.
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Jackson House -- Katherine's Little Fixer-Upper7/29/2010 12:05 AM PDT by TMZ Staff TMZ has obtained never-before-seen photos of the Jackson house in Encino, CA where Katherine Jackson and her grandchildren live -- and according to our sources, it was personally decorated by Mama Jackson herself.
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Seven Docs Cleared in MJ Probe ... Not Dr. Murray7/28/2010 6:45 PM PDT by TMZ Staff Dr. Conrad Murray is still the lone suspect in the death of Michael Jackson after state investigators announced today that seven other physicians will not be charged.
Attorney General Jerry Brown had launched a probe of seven other doctors who treated Jackson -- mainly looking at the prescribing practices of the physicians.
One of the doctors on the list has been reported to the California Medical Board for prescribing drugs to an alias for Michael. That doctor was not named.
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Dr. Conrad Murray -- Son On a Beach7/29/2010 12:10 PM PDT by TMZ Staff "You are not allowed to view links.
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Dr. Murray is due back in court to face involuntary manslaughter charges on August 23.
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MJ Doc Arnie Klein -- I'll Save Your Face!7/29/2010 2:20 PM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson's former dermatologist -- and longtime friend -- Dr. Arnie Klein will now have a say about what YOU can put in your face ... TMZ has learned he's been appointed to the Food and Drug Administration ... an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Klein -- who's been practicing medicine for 35 years and is considered a leader in the field of dermatology -- will offer his expertise in the field of injectables.
Klein tells us he'll primarily be dealing with trials for certain injectable products -- to determine how they should be used. He will also participate in toxicity testing.
Klein tells us, "It's most important that someone takes responsibility for what's happening in medicine ... we're the best country in the world, we should be able to deliver the best medical care in the world and have the best possible drugs at the lowest possible prices."
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Michael Jackson Conquers Death with New Album7/30/2010 3:00 PM PDT by TMZ Staff Michael Jackson cannot be stopped ... even in death -- the King of Pop is set to release a posthumous album of brand new songs this November ... and it's just the beginning.
According to Rolling Stone, Jackson has approximately 100 still-unreleased songs from throughout his career -- and the Jackson Estate has already inked a $250 million deal with Sony to release them over the next seven years ... along with reissues of the MJ classics.
Among the unreleased tracks are collaborations with Akon, Will.i.am and Ne-Yo.
The album is due out in November.
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Conrad Murray -- Just What the Doctor Ordered7/31/2010 12:50 AM PDT by TMZ Staff Dr. Conrad Murray continued his vacation yesterday -- lounging with a drink in the pool in Miami with baby mama Nicole Alvarez and their young son.
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